Midland Energy Resources, Inc. Midland Energy Resources, Inc. Is a global energy company with three major divisions, including oil and gas exploration and production (E&P), refining and marketing (R&M), and petrochemicals. Midland has been a profitable company over the past few years. In 2006, the firm, on a consolidated basis, had operating revenue and operating income of $248.5 billion and $42.2 billion respectively. Among these three divisions, E&P was Midland’s most profitable business, R&M was Midland’s largest business, and Petrochemical was Midland’s smallest yet still substantial business. In 2007, Midland’s financial strategy will mainly focuses on four aspects: 1) Fund Overseas Growth; 2) Value-creating Investments; 3) Optimize Capital Structure; 4) Repurchase undervalued stocks. Fund Overseas Growth: Due to the exploited domestic resources in the domestic market, overseas investment will be the main sources for economic growth in Midland as a form of specialized financial and contractual arrangements similar to project financing, all of which are valued in dollars. Value-creating Investments: Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) methods, involving debt-free cash flows and a hurdle rate equal to or derived from the WACC for the project of division, are typically used to evaluate most prospective investment, yet for overseas projects are evaluated as streams of future equity cash flows and discounted as a rate based on the cost of equity. Optimize Capital Structure: Midland optimized its capital structure by carefully exploring the borrowing capacity inherent in its energy reserves and in long-lived productive assets such as refining facilities, and based on the annual operating cash flow and collateral value of its identifiable assets, each division has its own target debt ratio. Repurchase undervalued stocks: Possibilities to repurchase its own shares when potential